Gone Too Far‘s Gary Is Holding Strong

On tonight’s episode of Gone Too Far, you met Gary, a heroin addict struggling to get clean with the help of DJ AM. It’s now been months since filming, and despite Adam’s sudden death having shaken him to the core, Gary’s still determined to get his life back on track. We caught up with him last week for an update on his whereabouts and to find out what’s up next. Check out the video interview, as well as the personal information he shared with us over the phone…

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On seeing himself shoot up: I’ll be watching the show with everyone else on Monday night. I’m definitely nervous to see it … It’s easy to watch somebody else who you don’t know putting needles in their body, but when it’s you on camera, it’s a little different.

On how things have been since the show stopped taping: I’m doing good. I’m pretty close to two months sober. I had three-and-a-half months before, but I relapsed when me and my girlfriend broke up. After two weeks [of using], I came back out to California [to get clean again], and I’ve been here since September.

On deciding to go back to treatment: The minute I got back into using, I was like, “What the hell am I doing this for?” It wasn’t so much guilt this time around — in my head, I was thinking, “I didn’t get clean for my girlfriend, so why am I using because I’m upset as a result of me and her breaking up?” And the whole point of Adam being in my life was for me to get clean, so with him passing, it didn’t make sense for me to use. He died of a drug overdose — he wouldn’t want me to do the same thing. I was like, “I’m pretty much doing the exact opposite of what he wanted and of what I wanted to do for myself.”

On what’s next:I’m leaving treatment in a few days and I’ll be staying with a sober friend out here. I just don’t trust myself in going back to Connecticut. There’s nobody I know out here who uses, and I made friends with people at the treatment center who I can go to for support. I’m also pretty familiar with the [AA] meetings [here].

On what he’ll need to focus on the most in order to stay clean: It’s definitely about keeping busy. I’m also the type of person who needs a lot of people in my life, so it’s gonna be dependent on the relationships I have with others. I’m not good by myself — I need to keep plenty of friends around me and talk to my family. They’re happy that I chose to stay out here. It’s just not plausible that I’d be able to go home right now and not use. There’s too much boredom and not enough clean people.

On DJ AM making the difference in his life: He got me into the right [recovery] place. Anyone who knew Adam knows that he wasn’t a bulls**tter, so when he told me he found me a good place, I trusted him. He said it was gonna be good for me, and it was.